Great picture. Perfect tracking and logic.

Poor music CD sound

I agree with all previous positive coments and would add that my player has never skipped a beat on notably tough discs like double-sided or muliple viewing angles. Always works perfectly.

Good picture, good sound - while it actually worked

Reliability. Extremely poor customer service

After the the first year and a half the unit performed well and was used for both DVDs and CDs. However, it began to fail in reading new DVD to the point where now the unit will not read half my new DVDs. After about 3 years, I am wondering why I spent $800 Cdn on a unit that lasts only a third of the time of any of my AV components including my 10year old VCR.

To add insult to injury, Sony Canada took a month to figure out what was wrong with it and wanted to charge $335 (excluding taxes) for it's repair - Absolutely ridiculous considering that fact that I can get a new player for a little more.

BEWARE: Sony Canada Customer support - slow, uncourteous, and unreliable!

This will be my last Sony product - too bad, I was looking to upgrade to SACD and HDTV

Rock-solid build and performance, top notch picture quality, fantastic movie audio. Still going strong after 4 years of hard use.

Poor remote design, no DTS

One of my all-time best purchases. I had my eye on DVD technology at the Consumer Electronics Show for a couple of years when I thought I'd gamble with this player. There was no gamble. Virtually identical to the then top-of-the-line Sony 7000, hundreds of dollars less. That Sony pulled it because it was too good and was cutting into the sales of the 7000 was no myth - I got it from the reps themselves at the show. I recommend this unit heartily to anyone looking for a good used player.

It came out before DTS was available, so it's not included; but if you notice the difference between Dolby Digital and DTS in the middle of a movie, you've got better ears than I. And you're watching a boring movie.

The video quality is superb, and I've only had one disc not play in the years I've owned this player.

As a cd player, it's sound is inferior to my Pioneer laserdisc player, but better than my older Sony CD player. The remote is ill-designed for cd use, as you have to open a cover to access the number pad. The controls for slow motion and frame advance are under there as well, in favor of tv controls that only work with Sony tv's on the outside of the cover. A bad decision.

Don't let that stop you from getting a player that's still top notch 5 years after its debut. I watch 5 movies or more a week, year round, and mine just won't break.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic, Toshiba DVD players

Flawless solid player. Better than a lot of the newer ones!

No Dts

Got this player back in 1997 when they were first coming out and the dvd movie selection was pathetic. I have to say that it was by far one of my best electronic purchases that I have made in this high tech quickly changing world. Definately has stood the test of time. They should make em all this good instead of trying to kick em out as fast as they can. Kudos to Sony for this player!

Similar Products Used:

None

This is a five star product in its category. I owned the unit, but sold it to obtain a Sony S7700. I never had problems with it during my ownership. It simply lacked DTS and the 7700 has a better DAC. Again, its five star in its category. If you compared it with the S7700, it would naturally rank lower.

I have owned mine for almost 2 years and it has performed great.I never had a problem with anything.

This unit is great. It was on the market for less than 8 months and yanked.; The reason was because it was cutting into the 7000's sales. That should tell you something. However, the dac on the 7000 is a current pulse and the 3000 is a hybrid pulse I believe. The 3000's video was actually preferred over the 7000 in one review.

The timing of my desire to enter the DVD market coincided with Sonys' decision to discontinue the 3000. Consumers had figured out that the top-of-the-line Sony DVD 7000 and the 3000 were the same unit, minus some internal audio DAC elements, component outputs and the sliding front panel, all for a lot less money. I picked my unit up for a song and have never looked back. This thing is rock solid, with never a problem in sight (despite what some in this forum say-you guys need to check your discs). And it has the best consumer MPEG-2 digital video decoder chip on the market, outside of the 7000 and the 7700. Great job, Sony!

Plays everything.

No DTS.

If you ever have a chance to pick one of these up used, do it. I have over 90 DVDs and it plays all of them. This player was the best value of the first and a half generation players. I had a Toshiba when DVDs first came out and it sucked in every way. I returned it and waited several months for this player to come out.

I had a problem with the lasers being out of alignment just under one year. I sent it in under warranty and have had no problem since. It turns out, that I could have just gone in under service mode and realigned the lasers automatically.

It has played every disc without problem.

Not so good as a cd player or transport.

This has been an excellant player for DVDs. The picture is sharp but not overly (Some other players are so sharp that, to my eye, almost have a "Neon" like glow about the picture). Tracking is without a flaw; not a glitch to be seen.
I was very unhappy with the sound quality as a cd player. The highs seemed very harsh and bass was completely lacking. As a cd transport, attached to a Theta Pro Prime II, it faired much better but still very little bass and something, "Not quite right" in mids and highs.
I can find no fault with DVD movie soundtracks being input to a Dolby Digital processor...Extremely enjoyable.
Overall, I see no reason to upgrade to another player for DVD picture and sound (Movies). If you can still find one, it will most certainly be bargain priced and probably worth double. And it plays cdr's and vcd's.